Forget Me Not
by Ilanala
Summary: It probably didn’t occur to her that Fine, Upstanding Citizen Lee would be this drunk..." -- After an experience as traumatic as dinner with Ellen Tigh, Lee can't help going for the alcohol.


He knew it wasn't appropriate for the CAG to be wandering the hallways while falling-down drunk (it was bad enough that the XO had a reputation for doing that), but he seemed to have lost all track of where he was, and all these damned corridors looked the same (at least when they were a little bit blurry and possibly moving in ways that corridors shouldn't move, which is to say at all).

"Hey, Lee," Kara called from a little way away, and a moment later she came up next to him. Oh, that was just great. Kara would probably die laughing over his predicament.

"Where are you headed?" she asked brightly, oblivious for the time being to his inebriated state. It probably didn't occur to her that Fine, Upstanding Citizen Lee would be this drunk (and he hadn't been since his days as a cadet when no one really cared if you drank as long as you were off-duty and didn't start any bar brawls, with the exception of the day before Zak's funeral, and that was a special case).

"I'm...going back..." He gestured vaguely down one of the corridors, any traces of wit or guile deserting him.

"Are you lost?" Kara asked, laughing.

"A little," he admitted grudgingly. He'd been on Galactica more than long enough to know his way around, and he did, except when he couldn't even see straight.

"Come on," Kara said, heading down the corridor to the right. He tried to stay steady as he went after her, but she noticed his wobbling anyway. "Are you _drunk_?" she asked incredulously.

"No," Lee insisted. Then, after a moment's reflection, he amended, "Okay, yes. But you would be too if you'd been at dinner."

"Your dad's not that bad," Kara said wearily (she'd never understood Lee's conflict with his dad, and she probably never would, but she was still forever trying to patch things up between them).

"Not him," Lee explained. "He was fine."

"Then what was bad enough to drive you to drink?"

"Ellen Tigh," Lee declared.

"The XO's wife? Is she really as bad as people say?"

"Worse." They'd stopped walking, and Lee found something solid (a pole or a wall or whatever it was) to lean against until he felt less dizzy. He knew he really shouldn't give Kara any more ammunition to use against Tigh, but he couldn't bring himself to care. It was his fault for marrying someone as crazy as her in the first place.

"First, she was going on about how 'Some people might think a schoolteacher isn't the best choice for our president, but of course we all think you're doing a wonderful job in spite of being completely incapable...'" Kara was trying to hold back laughter at his imitation of Ellen, an overly high-pitched, simpering voice.

"Then she started talking about how Zak probably looks just like Mom now and nobody wanted to tell her she was putting her foot in her mouth." Kara's smile faltered briefly, but she didn't say anything. "And then she—wait," Lee caught himself. "I don't want to tell you that."

"Aww, come on," Kara whined. "It's not fair to say I missed something interesting and then not tell me what it was."

"I'm not nearly drunk enough to tell you," Lee insisted. "I'd never hear the end of it."

"Please?" Kara begged. "I'd tell you if somebody did something really embarrassing when you weren't around."

"No, you wouldn't," Lee argued.

"No, I probably wouldn't," Kara admitted. "But if you don't tell me, I'm going to have to use my imagination, and you wouldn't like what I'd come up with."

"Fine," Lee relented. "Let's just say she couldn't keep her hands or feet to herself."

Kara burst out laughing at that. "Are you kidding me? What did she do?"

"That's all you're getting out of me," Lee said, shaking his head. "I'm going to regret even saying that when I sober up."

Kara was still laughing, and it didn't look like she'd be stopping any time soon. "Isn't she old enough to be your mom?"

"Yes," Lee said ruefully. "Thank you so much for reminding me of that. I'm trying to repress here so I don't have to be permanently scarred."

"You're much more fun when you're traumatized," Kara said with a smirk. "You turn pretty shades of red and everything."

"I'm glad my suffering amuses you," Lee said dryly.

"You have to admit, it is funny," Kara pointed out.

Lee tried to continue to look affronted, but a smile snuck through, and then he found himself chuckling. "Yeah, I guess it is," he admitted, shaking his head. "And it'll be more funny if it never happens again."

"Oh, I doubt it," Kara said breezily. "I'm sure she'll come up with a better way to scar you next time."

"I hate you," Lee said cheerfully, to which Kara just smirked. "Now can you please make everything stop spinning and show me where I'm going before somebody comes along? I shouldn't really be seen like this."

"What's the big deal?" Kara asked as she started walking. "Ripper used to get drunk with us all the time."

"That was different," Lee pointed out, his smile fading as he tried not to show his discomfort at the mention of Galactica's former CAG. "Everything was different," he added softly.

"Don't worry," Kara said cheerfully, throwing off the moment of seriousness. "I promise not to tell anyone that you got drunk because Ellen Tigh tried to play footsie under the dinner table."

"Did I mention that I hate you?" Lee asked, but he couldn't suppress a grin.

"I promise not to tell anyone, or even tease you too much," Kara promised. "On one condition."

"What's that?" Lee asked, dreading the response.

"Next time you have dinner with the Tighs, you _have _to invite me."


End file.
